>Cham Bistro pickles the traditional way

>Last month I was invited to a kimchi pickling event courtesy of Cham Bistro, a Korean restaurant in Pasadena. I’m an avid fan of kimchi and was very excited to learn how to do this the traditional way. For the purpose of this post, I will detour from my regular format and instead, use photos to show how this process is done. A recipe will be posted at the end of the article for those of you who are interested in preparing this.

Napa cabbage is first soaked in salt water for an hour or two to soften the cabbage, so that it wilts the cabbage enough to later absorb the kimchi marinade.

A puree of fresh chilis, onions, Asian pear, garlic and ginger is put through the food processor and mixed with chili powder and “sweet rice porridge” made with rice powder and water that has been previously boiled and cooled.

Once the wet mixture is completed, add in the radish, minari, red mustard greens, chives and green onions and mix thoroughly so everything is evenly incorporated.

At this point, add in the important flavoring aspects which are the anchovy fish sauce, salted shrimp sauce and a mix of fresh and salted shrimp. Yes, RAW shrimps my friends!

Give everything a really good mix, the best way to do it is the way shown in the photo, with gloves so you don’t have a case of burning hands when you’re done, and also, so your hands don’t smell like kimchi for weeks on end.

When the mixture is ready, bring the napa cabbage to the mixing bowl and layer the mixture in between each flap of the napa, fold the napa in half and place into a glass jar with a good seal.

So you’re supposed to wait 20 days before opening the jar. I waited a little more than that and here is the result of my first attempt at pickling kimchi the traditional way. The aroma is incredible! The taste, nothing like what you would ever find in a store-bought kimchi. The recipe is below……

Tong Baechu Kimchi (Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi)

For wilted napa cabbage

2 heads napa cabbage

2 cups sea salt

8 cups water

For kimchi marinade

1 cup sweet rice powder

5 cups water

1 cup coarse Taeyangcho red chili pepper powder

5 ounces garlic

10 ounces Asian pear, peeled and quartered

9 ounces onions, peeled and quartered

1 ounce ginger, peeled

4 ounces Fresno chilies

2 pounds radish, julienned

4 ounces minari

4 ounces red mustard greens

4 ounces Korean chives

4 ounces green onions

1/4 cup Korean anchovy fish sauce

3/4 cup Korean salted shrimp sauce

4 ounces fresh shrimp, chopped

4 ounces Korean salted shrimp

Prepare napa cabbage

1. Trim the cabbage by removing any brown leaves on the outer layers. Slice the center of the cabbage’s stem 2 inches deep. Using your thumbs and hands, pull the cabbage into two sections through the slit. Repeat for the remaining cabbage.

2. Soak the cabbage sections in salted water (8 cups water to 1 cup sea salt) for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the cabbage from the salt water and sprinkle the remaining salt between each of the leaves. Return cabbage to the salted water with the cut side facing up. Rotate the cabbage every two hours, bringing the cabbage on the bottom of the container to the top and vice versa. After 5-6 hours, the texture of the cabbage will be properly rubbery. Wash the cabbage thoroughly and gently. Drain the cabbage in a colander, squeezing as much water from the leaves as possible. Set aside.

Prepare kimchi marinade

1. Combine the water with the sweet rice powder and whisk until smooth. Heat the water and rice powder mixture on the stove on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When bubbles start to form, reduce the heat and continue to stir. Once the mixture thickens and becomes translucent, take off the heat, approximately 10 minutes. Cool the mixture completely.

2. Place the onions, pear, garlic, ginger, and Fresno chilies in a food processor and pulse until finely minced. Set aside.

3. Once the rice powder mixture has cooled completely transfer to a large bowl. Add the red chili pepper powder to the rice powder mixture and combine well. Then, add in the pureed chili mixture along with the radish, minari, red mustard greens, chives, and green onions. Combine the mixture thoroughly, making sure that the greens are incorporated into the mixture completely. Lastly, add in the anchovy fish sauce, salted shrimp sauce, and fresh and salted shrimp. Once again, combine the mixture very well. (If mixing with your hands, be sure to wear rubber gloves to avoid chili burn.)

Prepare the kimchi

1. Take cabbage and stuff marinade mixture between leaves, working from outside in, starting with largest leaf to smallest. Do not overstuff, but make sure the marinade mixture adequately fills leaves. When entire cabbage is stuffed, take one of the larger leaves and wrap tightly around the rest of the cabbage. Divide cabbage among jars, pressing down firmly to remove any air bubbles. Only fill the jar 80% full because the kimchi will expand as it ferments.

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About Me

This blog is a journal of mostly my eating adventures, but also, other things I'm passionate about, including travel, the arts, and also, necessities to complete my life. Centered predominantly in and around Orange County, CA, some will extend to Los Angeles, San Diego and beyond. I am constantly searching for delicious food to eat and fun things to do, nothing is out of bounds. Sometimes it doesn't end well, but I can definitely say, it will always be an interesting journey.